APC Govs hijack party, frustrate Bola Tinubu

All Progressives Party, APC Governors yesterday revolted against the leadership of the party when they hijacked the proceedings of the National Executive Committee, NEC meeting and picked the members of the party's forthcoming National Convention Committee.

A shocked Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, national leader of APC, at the action of the governors, allegedly stormed out of the meeting held at its secretariat in Abuja.

While Tibubu picked Kwara's Baraje and Senator Ajayi Boroffice as the chairman and secretary of the convention committee, the governors opted for Governor Aliyu Wamakko of Sokoto State and Senator Chris Ngige as the chairman and secretary and had their way.

An insider at the meeting hinted that trouble started when Gov Rochas Okorocha of Imo State opposed Tinubu on the convention committee when he said: “All the 16 Governors of our great party have resolved that Wamakko and Ngige should be chairman and secretary, respectively.”

The interim chairman, Chief Bisi Akande put it into voice vote and the motion moved by Okorocha was carried.

Dazed by the development, the insider said Tinubu hurriedly left the meeting.

According to a party source, “The Governors have today told the party leaders that they are now in charge. They have quietly revolted against the overbearing influence of Tinubu. And let me make it clear to you that their plan is to make former governor of Bayelsa State, Timipre Sylva the convention chairman at the expense of Akande and proceed to make Governors Rabi'u Kwankaso of Kano State  and Fayemi Kayode of Ekiti State the presidential candidate and running mate of the party.”

After the NEC meeting, the APC blamed the continued missing of the abducted Chibok girls on the refusal of Federal Government to consult with it.

In a communiqué read at the end of the meeting by the party's Interim National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, APC lambasted the government over what it described as its insincerity in the fight against insurgency questioning why it sought for foreign assistance without consulting the party.

The party said: “We make bold to say that the Federal Government has been very insincere in its persistent call for national unity to combat the despicable Boko Haram sect.

“This has been manifest, perhaps more than at any other time, since the tragic abduction of over 200 school girls from Chibok over a month ago.

“Up to this moment, the Federal Government is yet to reach out to the APC, the main opposition party, on how to forge a common front against this despicable terror group, despite our incessant efforts to reach out to the government.”

Nigeria Pilot